I'm not a big fan of the Tuesday Cowher Press Conferences...never have been, actually. The only useful information that comes out are the injuries, such as "Troy with a foot", or "Sean with a toe". But what went on at today's circus disguised as a dispersal of information and answers is a major reason why.
Mr. Bill, like many NFL coaches, is too important for his own good. That's why he's where he is. Like Bill Parcells, or Brian Billick, or in baseball, Tony LaRussa, he has a healthy ego. But the problem is that he has still yet to harness when to turn that ego on and off. During an emotional football game, displaying that self-importance is not only fine, it's necessary. But when we're two days removed from a game in which he wasn't even emotional in, he picks now to be Mr. Difficult with the media. He treats reporters like they are beneath him...rungs beneath him. To steal a line from the classic Bill Murray film What About Bob, "he's so far above us, we're like ropes on the Goodyear Blimp."
Cowher is a football coach, not a President, a Prime Minister, or Secretary of Defense. Yet the press conferences carry the tone of a Cuban Missile Crisis. You're preparing for Denver this week, Bill, not a stealth military attack at dawn.
On a legitimate question about Roethlisberger's health asked by Bob Smizik, Cowher responded with an abrupt "no" and then quickly moved to the next question. Congratulations, Bill, you just punked an 82-year-old sportswriter. Yet you can't discipline your own team when they're pushing guys who are already out of bounds and doing legs kicks while losing to the worst team in the league.
Smizik should do the Larry Foote stomp. That's been proven to not land anyone in Bill's doghouse.You can hear the Smizik exchange about halfway through this clip of today's press conference. However, that's not even the best part. Listen for a little longer, and you'll get this frustrated rant:
"It's week to week...it's week to week...it's WEEK TO WEEK!" when asked about Jeff Hartings' knee.
Cowher is wound up pretty tight these days. Losing to Art Shell will have that effect on a coach. What he needs to be most of all is a leader, not a media bully. If not, we'll have our own version of the Dennis Green clip to play ad nauseam soon enough. And someone will be crowned, I guarantee.
